Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Assessment Of Procedural Justice: Do Perceptions Of Job Relatedness Alter Criterion-Related Validities?, Dana M. Grambow

Dissertations

Two studies examined an application of procedural justice to the field of human resources by investigating participant reactions to different selection assessments administered in the same session. Following Gilliland’s model of organizational justice applied to human resources, the first study investigated how reactions to a cognitive ability assessment and a measure of Conscientiousness may alter the participants’ test-taking motivation for these assessments. Extending beyond Gilliland’s proposals, the first study assessed if these changes in test-taking motivation ultimately altered the validity of the assessments and tested a model depicting changes in the effect on reactions when two assessments are taken together. …

A Value-Added Study Of A Federal Grant Program In Mathematics For Military Dependent Students, Jay C. Marquand Phd

Dissertations

Closing the achievement gap in public education means all students are expected to be learning at grade level. In response to federal mandates requiring schools to attain specific student achievement benchmarks, many schools are placing greater resources into support programs designed to increase student achievement. Military dependent students experience unique challenges including, ongoing parent absences, extended parental deployments, and frequent moving and relocation. In California Unified School District (CUSD) where 37% of the student population is military connected, these challenges can place military dependent students at risk of failing socially, emotionally and academically. As a result, CUSD implemented an individualized, …

The School Completion Programme And The Development Of Human Rights Education In Ireland., Caroline O'Neill

Dissertations

This study explores the effectiveness of the School Completion Programme (SCP) in helping to achieve the three goals of the National Children’s Strategy (2000-2010) which are that children:

• Will have a voice in matters which affect them

• Their lives will be better understood

• They will receive quality supports and services to promote all aspects of their development

The research involved interviewing children who attend the schools involved in the Programme and have participated in the supports at some stage in their educational lives. The findings provided me with a valuable insight into how these children experience their …

Birds Of A Feather? Irish Public Attitudes Towards Sex Crime And Sex Offender Reintegration. Is There A Publically Perceived Scale Of Sexual Deviance?, Judy Mcavoy

Dissertations

This dissertation implements research in relation to public attitudes towards sex crime and sex offender reintegration with the objective of outlining a publically perceived scale of sexual deviance and exploring how this impacts on reintegrative measures. In addition, it investigates public knowledge of existing legislation and prevalence of sex crime. A web-based approach and electronic data collection method are used, whereby 84 participants are sampled from an Irish discussion forum-based website (www.boards.ie). An online survey in the form of a self-completion questionnaire explores their attitudes in relation to various scenarios of sex crime and various types of sex offenders. Willingness …

An Exploration Of Therapists' Personal Experience Of Loss And Grief And Impact On Therapeutic Approach, Moonyeen O'Phelan

Dissertations

Themes of loss and grief resonate through life. That we sustain trauma and anguish and move through it at all becomes part of our life story, worthy of being acknowledged. Most often, it appears there is no clear-cut end or resolution to our loss. Moreover, there are too few trained individuals who are willing to “go the distance” in processing these weighty matters. The purpose of this study was to explore therapists’ personal experiences of loss and grief and how these events transformed their therapeutic approach in clinical practice. Using heuristic phenomenological methodology, qualitative research was conducted in which therapists …

Regenerating Out Crime - The Impact Of An Urban Regeneration Programme On Safety And Security In A Dublin Suburb, Jonathan Grant

Dissertations

The regeneration of Turristown was a programme for the economic, social and physical renewal of a suburban town in the north-west of Dublin, which began in 1997 and which remains on-going to this date. The area of Turristown is one which has been blighted by socioeconomic and physical deprivation since its establishment in the late 1960s, and the regeneration programme was therefore formulated to provide much needed housing, social services and economic investment to the area. This study sought to assess the impact of this urban regeneration on security and safety as perceived by the suppliers and consumers of security …

The Sibling Relationship: Friendship Or Rivalry?, Edel Wallace

Dissertations

The aim of this study is to examine the sibling relationship from the perspective of both siblings in order to add to the understanding of potentially one of the most important relationship of an individual’s life. In particular, questions were asked about how the relationship is affected in terms of warmth, conflict and rivalry by a number of variables; gender, level of contact and number of siblings in the family. This study also sought to determine if there is a gender divide in the type of support provided between siblings.

A quantitative, self-completion questionnaire was used in order to conduct …

Jury Service: The Verdict An Exploratory Study Of Public Attitudes To Jury Service, Brid Dempsey

Dissertations

Jury service is seen as an integral institution within the Irish criminal justice system, and is dependent on public participation, as such, it should follow that research into public opinion of this institution is vital. The current research explores the public’s attitude to jury service in Ireland. Specifically, the study concentrates on the public’s support for jury service, their knowledge of jury service and their willingness to participate in jury service. Past experiences of jurors are also explored. The study was conducted through quantitative research utilising availability sampling through 74 on-line surveys. The on-line sample was sourced through the use …

Defining Terrorism: A Risky Business?, Helena Kiely

Dissertations

The Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 introduced definitions of terrorist activity, terrorist group and terrorist offences for the first time. These definitions, enacted subsequent to the Good Friday Agreement (1998), were examined to ascertain whether perspectives of crime control or risk influenced their formulation. Evidence of control perspectives were elicited within the definitions but themes of risk or actuarial justice were not found. The policy analysis established that the definitions which emerged through process of coerced policy convergence emanating from the Council of the European Union with Irish legislators having limited influence.

From Breadwinner To Breadmaker: The Experiences Of Stay- At- Home Fathers In Ireland Today, Eoin O'Brien

Dissertations

The experience and views of men who have become stay-at-home fathers has been an area of research that has, only in recent decades, become popular to study. This study highlights that there is a dearth of literature from an Irish perspective and that little is known about the topic.
Internationally, research has shown that there appears to be a strong link between masculine identity and the realm of paid employment. It also shows that fathers struggle in their attempts to balance being involved fathers while maintaining a foothold in paid employment.
The literature highlights that stay-at-home fathers begin to break …

To Cctv Or Not? An Examination Of Community-Based Cctv In Ireland, Aidan Donnelly

Dissertations

Over the last twenty years, there has been a significant increase in the use of closed circuit television (CCTV) systems. Most people are familiar with the use of such systems in locations such as shops, financial institutions, hotels, schools, hospitals, sports stadia and so forth. However, there are also a significant number of public CCTV systems that have been erected and operate in public space areas such as town centres, residential housing estates etc. Some of these CCTV systems are police only or local authority only systems but a growing number are what is termed community-based systems. The principal aim …

Feeding Fear? : An Examination Of The Representation Of Crime News In Contemporary Irish Print Media, Eimear Rabbitte

Dissertations

Crime is a timeless phenomenon. Its inherent ability to both fascinate and appal has made reporting of crime an intrinsic part of newspapers since the dawn of the printing press. The interest surrounding crime validates the need for accurate and consistent reporting. This renders it a regular feature of the daily news cycle and thus a fixture in our everyday lives. Reading or hearing about it through the news media is the only contact that many people will have with crime throughout their lives. Therefore, the manner in which crime news is both presented and portrayed to the general public …

Support For Victims Of Crime: Reality Or Rhetoric?, Jennifer Rice

Dissertations

The criminal justice system has drawn the victim of crime from the background to become a major actor in the criminal justice process. Over the last two decades, a considerable number of Irish policies have been drafted to meet the needs of the victim of crime. Whilst Ireland has followed the same path as a number of other jurisdictions such as the UK, it is interesting to consider why particular policies have been enacted. Is the victim of crime being used as a pawn in political game play? Or, are politicians genuinely addressing the needs of Irish victims of crime? …

Children Museum Experience: Exploratory Study Of Potential Of Museum Visits In Achieving Learning Goals Of Irish Ecec Curriculum Framework Aistear, Anna Ćwidak

Dissertations

This qualitative study examines the potential of museum visits in achieving learning goals of Early Childhood Education and Care as listed in the Irish ECEC Curriculum Framework Aistear. Data obtained through interviewing professionals of both ECEC and museum education sector has been compared and confronted with the literature available. The study focuses on three main areas.

Firstly, it looks at the learning goals listed in Aistear and attempts to link them with the potential outcomes of children’s museum visits. The interviewees were asked to recognise and comment on learning experience that ECEC groups participate in during an outing to a …

Bias Crime And Minority Threat, Michele Stacey

Dissertations

Beginning in the 1980s, the term hate crime became part of the research canon of criminologists across the United States. Researchers have examined the characteristics of hate crime victims, offenders, and offenses. However, little is known about the context of hate crime, and more specifically about the ways that the changing demographics of the United States have contributed to hate crime. The dissertation examines the relationship between these demographic shifts and the trend in hate crime from 2000 to 2007 through the use of population averaged panel models. These models assess changes over time and across place in the number …

The Free Preschool Year In Ireland: The Perspectives Of Early Childhood Educators And Policymakers, Martina Ozonyia

Dissertations

This thesis explores the introduction of the Free Preschool Year (FPY) in Ireland from the early childhood 'educators' and 'policymakers' perspectives. Under the new FPY initiative introduced in 2010, all children between the ages of 3.2 - 4.7 are offered free preschool hours for a period of one year prior to their entrance into primary school. This research identified the need to study the introduction of FPY as research into this topic to date has been limited. The purpose of this research was to understand the rationale behind this new initiative as well as exploring the issues of 'qualification requirements', …

Deepwater, Deep Ties, Deep Trouble: A State-Corporate Environmental Crime Analysis Of The 2010 Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill, Elizabeth A. Bradshaw

Dissertations

The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was one of the worst environmental disasters of all time. Using the concept of state-corporate environmental crime, this project applies a case study analysis of secondary data sources including publicly available government reports, corporate documents, academic sources and journalistic accounts to examine the causes of the blowout and the response to the spill. Building on Michalowski and Kramer’s Integrated Theoretical Model of State-Corporate Crime, this study introduces an additional level of analysis- that of the industry- between the organizational and institutional levels.

The causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion are rooted both in …

Predictors Of Counselor Self-Efficacy Among Master's Level Counselor Trainees: Impact Of Cohort Versus Non-Cohort Educational Programs, Regina Lynn Meyer

Dissertations

Self-efficacy, a central component of Bandura's social cognitive theory (SCT), is an important construct in the realm of therapist development and has been associated with client outcome. Researchers have found that some of the strongest predictors of counselor self-efficacy are level of experience, level of training, state anxiety, and trait anxiety. Missing from this body of literature, however, is an understanding of how the educational format of training (i.e., cohort versus non-cohort) impacts counselor self-efficacy. Because cohort membership has been associated with professional confidence and self-esteem, it was hypothesized that educational format would contribute significant variance to counselor self-efficacy scores. …

Child Parent Relationship Therapy For Parents Of Children With Disruptive Behavior, Alison Moses

Dissertations

Young children who display extreme levels of disruptive behaviors are at increased risk for later academic difficulties, poor social relationships and adolescent delinquency, making early intervention efforts a priority. Studies evaluating Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) have demonstrated its effectiveness in improving parental empathy, improving parental acceptance, decreasing parenting stress, and decreasing perceived child problem behavior. These outcomes, however, must be evaluated in light of several research limitations (e.g., lack of randomization, use of non-standardized measures, lack of treatment integrity data). Well conducted studies that assess the effectiveness of CPRT on specific presenting problems are needed to evaluate better the impact, …

Identifying Mechanisms Of Change: Utilizing Single-Participant Methodology To Better Understand Behavior Therapy For Youth Depression, Andrew R. Riley

Dissertations

The study’s primary goal was to provide a model for studying therapeutic mechanisms of action at the single-case level. By controlling for non-specific early responses, identifying potential mechanisms of action a priori, taking frequent measures of mechanisms and dependent variables, rigorously evaluating internal validity, and using a variety of analytic methods, a unique model for analysis of potential mediators was created. Eleven depressed youths were recruited to receive first a non-directive therapy (NDT), followed by a behavioral therapy (BT) for those still displaying high levels of symptoms. Four participants responded to NDT. Of the remaining seven, all showed some improvement …

Popular Perceptions Of The Relationship Between Religious And Ethnic Identities: A Comparative Study Of Ethnodoxy In Contemporary Russia And Beyond, David M. Barry

Dissertations

The relationship between religion and ethnicity is well documented. However, previous studies have usually approached the relationship by focusing on the converging of two 'objective' social categories, religion and ethnicity. In doing so, the subjectivity, or the actor's own understanding of the interplay between religion and ethnicity is typically neglected. This study fills this gap by exploring popular perceptions of group identities and the affiliation with imagined ethno-religious communities. To accomplish this, the concept of ethnodoxy, first developed by Vyacheslav Karpov and Elena Lisovskaya, is applied that captures the belief that affiliation to an ethnic group's dominant religion is essential …

School Counselors' Activities In Predominantly African American Urban Schools, Lacretia T. Dye

Dissertations

Urban school reform has begun to penetrate the school counseling profession in both theory and practice. The American School Counseling Association’s National Model (ASCA, 2005), as well as the Transforming School Counseling Initiatives component of the Education Trust (2007) are initiatives within the school profession promoted, in part, as responses to urban school reform. In particular, the ASCA National model is a “call to action” for school counselors to promote student success by closing the existing achievement gap whenever found between students of color, poor students, or underachieving students and their more advantaged peers (ASCA, 2005). However, little information is …

What Psychotherapists Have To Teach Us About Childhood Developmental Trauma: The Roles Of Attachment Orientation And Coping Strategy, Rebecca Klott

Dissertations

Psychotherapists have been found to have higher rates of childhood developmental trauma when compared to non-clinicians, yet they do not report more distress. The current study added to the literature regarding the experiences of psychotherapists and explored a theoretical model integrating attachment and coping as mediators for the relationship between childhood developmental trauma and psychological distress among psychotherapists.

A total of 130 masters' level psychologists participated in this study. These participants were asked to complete the following measures: The Child Abuse and Trauma Scale (Sanders& Becker-Lausen, 1995), the Ways of Coping-Revised (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985; Folkman, Lazarus, Denkel-Schetter, DeLongis, & …

First-Generation, African American Students' Experiences Of Persisting At A Predominantly White Liberal Arts College, Candy S. Mccorkle

Dissertations

Generational status of students is one of the variables that colleges and universities are starting to track and study in order to gain a better understanding of its impact on retention and persistence of students. This phenomenological study provides narrative from five first-generation, African American students who attend a predominantly White liberal arts college in the Midwest; their stories provide a snapshot of how they experienced college, made meaning of those experiences and the impact of these experiences and meaning-making on their motivation to persist in college. These five students participated in individual audio-taped interviews that were analyzed and coded. …

The Effects Of Repeated Resurgence Conditions On The Magnitude Of Resurgence, Ryan Nathaniel Redner

Dissertations

Resurgence is defined as the recurrence of a previously reinforced behavior, under the condition that reinforcer delivery ceases for a more recently reinforced behavior. The current study investigated the effect of repeating the resurgence procedure six times with pigeons and two times with rats to determine the effect of repetitions on the magnitude of resurgence. Three phases were repeated: (a) Response 1 was reinforced while there were no programmed consequences for Response 2, (b) Response 2 was reinforced and Response 1 was extinguished, and finally (c) there were no programmed consequences for either response. The results indicated that the magnitude …

Social Justice, White Racial Identity, And Multicultural Competency Among White Master Level Trainees In Counselor Education And Counseling Psychology, Sara Rebecca Streufert

Dissertations

In recent years, scholars have become more vocal regarding counselors and counseling psychologists’ responsibilities to advance efforts for social change (Goodman et al., 2004; Speight & Vera, 2004; Vera & Speight, 2004). As a result, empirical investigations have started to evaluate variables that may contribute to trainees and mental health professionals’ desire to participate in social justice advocacy (Beer, 2008; Caldwell, 2008; Landreman et al., 2007; Nilsson & Schmidt, 2005). However, most of these studies do not focus on trainees and mental health professionals who identify as White. The present study used quantitative analyses to explore nine hypotheses regarding the …

The Motives Of Trade Credit Usage And The Importance Of Risk Perception For Decision-Making Behavior, Kun Zhao

Dissertations

The objective of this study is to discuss two motives of trade credit usage for large and small firms. To examine one of the motives–transaction motive—the study models a circulation mechanism in trade credit. The nature of the mechanism is such that firms are motivated to balance their trade credit inflows (accounts payable) with their outflows (accounts receivable). An empirical test is therefore needed to examine this issue. The findings in Chapter 1 support the theory of transaction motive that firms with more bank tolerance are more likely to advance the flow of trade credit to their clients. In particular, …

The Religious Aspects Of The 1893 Columbian Exposition: A Case Study Of Interreligious Interaction And Religious Pluralism In The Public Square, Cynthia Visscher

Dissertations

This case study of the religious aspects of the 1893 Columbian Exposition examines the conditions that supported religious pluralism in the public square in the nineteenth century; compares these conditions to contemporary social contexts, and; contributes to the sociological debate regarding the effect of increasing religious diversity on social structure in the United States.

The existing literature is more often focused on normative theory rather than empirical examination. This case study offers an empirical investigation of the accommodation of religious diversity in a society that was in early stages of secularization and addresses how a pluralistic public square existed. Specifically, …

Positive Peer Reporting And Positive Peer Reporting Combined With Tootling: A Comparison Of Interventions, Julie Christine Sherman

Dissertations

Positive Peer Reporting (PPR) and Tootling are interventions designed to improve children’s positive behavior and decrease peer rejection. Research is limited for both interventions, including dependent variables for appropriate behavior. The current study assessed PPR and a combination of PPR and Tootling for decreasing inappropriate behavior and increasing appropriate behavior. Behavior was also observed a second time to assess for generalization. Results showed that PPR and PPR with Tootling both reduced inappropriate behavior for four children referred for peer rejection and who exhibited inappropriate behavior in the classroom. There were no differences between the two interventions for inappropriate and appropriate …

Using The Good Behavior Game To Decrease Disruptive Behavior While Increasing Academic Engagement With A Headstart Population, Brandy Marie Hunt

Dissertations

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) has been widely supported as an effective intervention to alter a variety of target behaviors, in various settings, with varying age groups; however, there are areas warranting further investigation. Prior to the present study, no study has examined the GBG’s effectiveness in decreasing disruptive behaviors while increasing appropriate academic behaviors within a preschool population. The present study adds to the literature base by investigating the GBG’s effectiveness in simultaneously decreasing classroom disruptive behaviors while increasing appropriate behaviors. A multiple baseline design across three Headstart classrooms was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the GBG on …